shoneen

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Irish Seoinín (“Johnny”), from Seán (“John, John Bull”) + -ín (diminutive suffix).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈʃəʊniːn/

Noun

shoneen (plural shoneens)

1. (Ireland, derogatory, ethnic slur) An Irish person considered excessively Anglophile, an Irish person who acts English or desires to be part of English society.

   Synonyms: West Brit, jackeen

   • 1889, W B Yeats, The Ballad of Father O'Hart:

     Good Father John O'Hart
     In penal days rode out
     To a shoneen who had free lands
     And his own snipe and trout.

   • 1922, James Joyce, Ulysses:

     So then the citizens begin talking about the Irish language and the corporation meeting and all to that and the shoneens that can’t speak their own language

Hypernyms

• race traitor

Derived terms

• Shoneenism

Related terms

• jackeen